Medication error reporting attitudes and practices in a regional Australian hospital: a qualitative study

IF 1 Q4 PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY

Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research Pub Date : 2023-11-10 DOI:10.1002/jppr.1887

Shady Abdelmaksoud BPharm, MClinPharm, Mohammed S. Salahudeen BPharm, PharmD, PhD, FHEA, Colin M. Curtain BPharm, GradDipComp, PhD

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Medication errors are events that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm. Australians living outside metropolitan areas have poorer health outcomes than those living in urban areas. Medication error reporting (MER) practices vary due to the attitude of healthcare professionals (HCPs). MER can improve patient safety in community and hospital settings.

Aim

To explore HCPs' attitudes, practices, and recommendations towards MER in a regional hospital setting in Australia.

Method

Semistructured interviews were employed to identify the attitudes, practices, and recommendations of HCPs for the best utilisation of medication error reports. The study recruited HCPs (nurses, pharmacists, and doctors) working in all clinical areas from November 2021–February 2022. Interviews were recorded and transcribed via thematic analysis. Ethics approval was obtained from the Goulburn Valley Health (GVH) Human Research Ethics Committee (Reference no: GVH 35/21). Informed consent was obtained from participants via an information sheet and completion of a written consent form.

Results

Interviews with twelve HCPs elucidated four themes: barriers and enablers to reporting, and perceived benefits and recommendations for medication error reports. There was good understanding among regional HCPs about the benefits of MER. Attitudes and practices varied, with nurses reporting more medication errors than doctors, and pharmacists being concerned about the impact of reporting on interprofessional relations. Their recommendations involved standardising medication error definition and improving electronic system education.

Conclusion

Despite HCPs' understanding of the role of MER, their practices varied. We recommend improved protected time for learning, training with the incident reporting software, education about medication errors, and formalisation of test feedback to clinicians. The implementation of workplace cultural practice changes to improve organisational systems and enhance error reporting without fear of repercussions, and the adoption of additional solutions such as electronic prescribing are also encouraged.

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澳大利亚一家地区医院报告用药错误的态度和做法：一项定性研究

背景用药错误是指可能造成或导致用药不当或对患者造成伤害的事件。与居住在城市地区的人相比，居住在大都市以外地区的澳大利亚人的健康状况较差。由于医疗保健专业人员（HCPs）的态度不同，用药错误报告（MER）的做法也不尽相同。用药错误报告可以改善社区和医院环境中的患者安全。目的探讨澳大利亚地区医院的医护人员对用药错误报告的态度、做法和建议。方法采用半结构式访谈，以确定医疗保健人员对最佳利用用药错误报告的态度、做法和建议。研究招募了 2021 年 11 月至 2022 年 2 月期间在所有临床领域工作的 HCP（护士、药剂师和医生）。研究人员对访谈进行了录音，并通过专题分析对访谈内容进行了转录。古尔本谷医疗机构（GVH）人类研究伦理委员会（参考编号：GVH 35/21）已批准了伦理研究。通过信息表和填写书面同意书获得了参与者的知情同意。结果对 12 名保健医生进行的访谈阐明了四个主题：报告的障碍和促进因素、感知到的好处以及对用药错误报告的建议。各地区的高级保健人员对 MER 的益处都有很好的理解。他们的态度和做法各不相同，护士比医生报告更多的用药错误，药剂师则担心报告对专业间关系的影响。他们的建议包括统一用药错误的定义和改进电子系统教育。结论尽管医疗保健人员对 MER 的作用有所了解，但他们的做法各不相同。我们建议改善受保护的学习时间、事故报告软件培训、用药错误教育以及对临床医生的测试反馈正规化。此外，我们还鼓励实施工作场所文化实践变革，以改进组织系统并加强错误报告，而不必担心受到影响，同时鼓励采用电子处方等其他解决方案。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research Health Professions-Pharmacy

CiteScore

1.60

自引率

9.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： The purpose of this document is to describe the structure, function and operations of the Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research, the official journal of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA). It is owned, published by and copyrighted to SHPA. However, the Journal is to some extent unique within SHPA in that it ‘…has complete editorial freedom in terms of content and is not under the direction of the Society or its Council in such matters…’. This statement, originally based on a Role Statement for the Editor-in-Chief 1993, is also based on the definition of ‘editorial independence’ from the World Association of Medical Editors and adopted by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.